Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Meet the next Secretary of the Army

It is being widely reported that Bush's Carlyle Group buddy Francis Harvey will be the next secretary of the Army. Carlyle is a high-power Washington investment firm that figures prominently in filmmaker Michael Moore's controversial exploration of the Bush administration, "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Harvey is vice chairman of Duratek, which specializes in the handling and disposing of radioactive materials. Duratek, which reported sales of $286 million last year, has contracts with both the US Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, which is itself one of the nation's top defense contractors. Carlyle owns about 23 percent of the company and appointed Harvey to Duratek's board in 1998.

Can you say "Doctor Evil?" I thought you could. However, here is something that will cheer you up: Chris Ullman, a spokesman for the Carlyle Group, said he's confident that Harvey, if appointed Army secretary, won't show any special favors to former business partners.